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TOPSHOT – This photo shows the full moon during an eclipse of "blood moon" View of the city of Tunceli in East Turkey on July 27, 2018. The longest blood moon eclipse began on July 27. "The closest approach in 15 years to treat skygazers around the world to an exciting celestial show." / AFP / BULENT KILIC
Paris: The longest "blood moon" eclipse of this century has dazzled skygazers around the world Friday, coinciding with the closest approach to Mars in 15 years in a pulsating celestial show
Next to Lake Magadi, 100 kilometers southwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, young members from the Maasai community have watched the eclipse through a "Until now, I thought that Mars, Jupiter and the other planets were in the imagination of scientists," said Purity Sailepo, 16 , to AFP
"But now I've seen I can believe it and I want to be an astronomer to tell other people. "
Contrary to a solar eclipse, the spectators did not need goggles to observe the rare exposure.
For about half of the world, the moon was partly or wholly in the Earth shadow from 1714 to 2328 GMT – six hours and 14 minutes in all
The complete eclipse period – known as the "totality", when the moon seems the darkest, lasted from 1930 to 21 13 GMT
At the same time, Mars hovered near the moon in the night sky, easily visible to the naked eye.
Southern Hemisphere amateur astronomers were best placed to to observe this rare spectacle, especially in southern Africa, Australia and Madagascar, but it was also visible in Europe, South Asia and South America
More than 2,000 people, including many children armed with binoculars , gathered in the Tunisian capital of Tunis
"J & # We hope that this eclipse will bring us happiness and peace. "Karima, 46, without taking her eyes off the sky."
However, bad weather thwarted cosmic exposure in many parts of the world.
Generalized monsoon rains and thick clouds have hid the moon in much of neighboring India, which should have had a privileged view.
Similarly, enthusiastic observers who had gathered on the cliffs and beaches of the English county of Dorset were left in the dark because of the overcast sky
"It's disappointing," says 67-year-old Tish Adams. "I took some pictures but there are was that a trail of roses in the sky. "
Meanwhile, a frustrated crowd of moon worshipers gathered on a hill in North London, consoling themselves by playing a Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler's hit 1983 "Total eclipse of the heart".
Those of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil have had more luck, slamming the red moon in the clear night sky with their phones and cameras
Talita Oliveira, 34 years old.
Mars appeared unusually large and bright, barely 57.7 million kilometers from the Earth on its territory. elliptical orbit around the sun.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth takes a position in a straight line between the moon and the sun, erasing the direct sunlight that normally makes our satellite whitish-yellow.
a similar position every month, dropping the tilt of one's orbit means that it normally goes above or below the Earth's shadow – so most months we have a full moon without eclipse.
When the three celestial bodies are perfectly aligned, the Earth's atmosphere sunlight by refracting or bending the red light on the moon, usually giving it a pink blush.
This is what gives the phenomenon the name of "blood moon", although Mark Bailey of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland said the color.
It depends in part "on the transparency or transparency of parts of the earth's atmosphere that allow sunlight to reach the moon," he told AFP.
. invisible. "
The long duration of this eclipse was partly due to the fact that the moon was making a nearly central pass through the shadow of the Earth – the darkest and most central part of the shadows
event, "said Sven Melchert, head of the moon was also at the furthest point of its earth orbit, making its movement across the sky slower from our point of view.
NASA, meanwhile, denounced the hoaxes of social media claiming that Mars would appear as big as the Moon during the eclipse
"If that were true, we would be in big trouble considering the gravitational attractions on Earth, Mars and our moon! "March 1965 appeared as a very bright star
" In the middle of a lunar eclipse, one may have the impression that a red planet has taken up residence near the Earth, "said Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society in London.
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